Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, to immediately disclose whether the bank has commenced the direct disbursement of allocations to the 774 local councils in Nigeria from the Federation Account and to widely publish the amounts so far directly sent to each of the councils, if any.

SERAP also urged Cardoso to immediately disclose whether any direct payment has been made from the Federation Account with the CBN to the local councils in Rivers State and to explain the rationale for any such payment.

Recall that the Supreme Court had, last July in a landmark judgment, held that no governor or other agencies have the power to keep, control, or disburse in any manner the allocations from the Federation Account meant for local councils, and that any such allocations must be paid directly to democratically elected councils.

In the Freedom of Information request at the weekend, and signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The CBN ought to act in the public interest to ensure that the 774 councils in the country directly get their allocations from the Federation Account, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

“The CBN has a constitutional and statutory duty to protect the allocations in the Federation Account and the public funds disbursed from that account directly to each of the three constitutionally recognisedtiers of government.”

According to SERAP, the CBN also has the constitutional and statutory duty to ensure that no part of the federation is governed contrary to the Nigerian Constitution or by anybody that is not constitutionally empowered to do so.

“State governors are starving local councils of funds and putting them in peril, despite the Supreme Court’s binding orders. Governors’ blatant disregard for the Supreme Court’s orders undermines the integrity of the court and poses a direct challenge to the rule of law.

“The CBN should be facilitating compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders. If state governors get away with ignoring the court, it will undermine the ability of the bank to credibly perform its constitutional and statutory duties.”

The organisation noted that ensuring that all restrictions against direct disbursement of allocations from the Federation Account to the 774 councils will comply with the orders by the Supreme Court and stop states and the Federal Capital Territory from tampering with the allocations ahead of the 2027 general elections.